


To Dance in a Burning Building

by sabaceanbabe



Category: Dollhouse
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-21
Updated: 2010-03-21
Packaged: 2017-10-08 05:07:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/73005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabaceanbabe/pseuds/sabaceanbabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Trapped in a burning room, what would be the first thing you do?</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	To Dance in a Burning Building

The wail of sirens rose from the street below, growing louder and then fading as they passed. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and Paul usually ignored such things. But this time he looked up from the report in his hands to glance out his living room window. A plume of smoke rose in the distance, backlit by the setting sun and spreading out like a malignant cloud on the horizon. Nothing that would have an effect on him, though, and so he continued past the window into the kitchen. A beer would make this report a hell of a lot more palatable to read.

He returned to the living room, again passing the window, and again the smoke caught his attention. He frowned as the hair on the back of his neck stirred, tickling.

Maybe he should look into that fire in the morning…

***

Chaos reigned as smoke billowed and overhead sprinklers rained chemically treated water over everything. People ran, screamed, some tried to escape while others tried to hide. Boyd felt sympathy for them, particularly the actives, who had no clue what was happening and were clearly terrified. Some of the more responsible handlers shepherded their charges toward the exits. Dodging past a young man who was nearly catatonic, Boyd took the stairs two at a time. Echo was in Brink's lab undergoing treatment and Boyd needed to get her to safety.

Grabbing onto the doorjamb to steady himself as he skidded on slick tile, Boyd nearly crashed into Brink, who was busy cramming anything and everything he could get his hands on into what looked like a milk crate. A panicked look on the man's face, water dripping unchecked from his hair and into his eyes, Brink shoved the crate into Boyd's hands and whirled away to grab another.

Echo wasn't there.

Boyd dropped the plastic crate, which fell straight to the floor, jostling the soggy papers and cassettes within. "Where's Echo?"

Still wide-eyed, Brink paused in his frantic packing. "What?"

"Echo. Pretty girl, dark hair. She was here for her 'treatment.'"

Brink stared at him for a moment, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. "I don't know. She was done. She left."

"Where did she go?" He spoke patiently, just as he did with the blank dolls on the floor below.

But the programmer was done with him; Brink had returned to stuffing cassettes into another, larger plastic box. "Out there, somewhere." He waved in the general direction of the hallway outside his office. "I don't know. Help me save these profiles."

Turning away in disgust, Boyd left him there and ran back down the hallway, calling Echo's name.

***

"Ms. DeWitt, we have to go."

Adelle ignored the urgency in his voice, continuing instead to tap away at her keyboard. "Indeed we do, Mr. Dominic, but not until these files are secure." She glanced over her shoulder at him, noted his stance – poised for flight – and hit enter. "The confidentiality of our clients is—"

"Our highest priority. Yes, I know. But we won't be able to protect that confidentiality if we're dead." He came closer as he spoke and with that last word, reached over her shoulder and flipped her laptop closed. She raised one brow at him, but he just looked her in the eye and said, "We're going. Ma'am."

***

Echo frowned. She didn't like all the noise. She hadn't liked the smoke, either, but then it started raining inside and the smell wasn't so bad anymore. Lifting her arms, Echo pulled wet hair out of her eyes, off her neck, and then looked down at her wet clothes. Even though Topher had said she could go swimming, since her treatment was finished, she was a little bit worried that she was going to be in trouble for getting her clothes wet.

Someone ran past her, bumping hard against her arm, and without thinking, Echo reached out and caught the person's wrist. "Is something wrong?"

Sierra's eyes were wide and frightened, but she stopped running and held onto Echo's hand. "I think something is burning."

Echo nodded. "There was smoke."

Looking over her shoulder, Sierra tried to pull Echo in the direction she'd been running. "We should go to our room."

But Echo resisted the pull. "No, we have to find Boyd and Dr. Claire. They might be scared."

Sierra looked unsure of herself, but then she nodded. "Dr. Claire is my friend. And friends help each other." Still holding hands, Echo and Sierra turned. Calling for Boyd and Dr. Claire, they ran back toward the stairs.


End file.
